Equinor sells US$3.5Bn stake in Brazilian offshore oil field

Brazilian oil and gas company PRIO’s subsidiary Prio Tigris has bought Norwegian oil major Equinor’s 60% management stake in the Peregrino oil field offshore Brazil.

PRIO, Brazil’s largest independent oil and gas company, has agreed to pay US$3.35Bn and a maximum of US$150M in interest to Equinor for the transaction. Equinor will be responsible for operations until closing of the transaction, after which PRIO will take over operatorship.

The deal is divided into two parts: the acquisition of a 40% stake and operatorship of Peregrino and, secondly, the acquisition of the remaining 20% of Equinor’s stake. The 40% stake and operatorship deal initial total is US$2.23Bn, with an additional payment of US$166M, contingent on the completion of the second 20% stake. Sale of the 20% stake comes in at US$951M. The final component is the US$150M in maximum interest.

In 2024, PRIO acquired Sinochem’s 40% interest in the Peregrino field, meaning the company will be in full control of the Peregrino field when the transaction is approved. PRIO said it expects the deal to close between late 2025 and early 2026.

PRIO said the deal will add 202M barrels of oil in reserves and resources, based on reserve estimates from January 2024.

Equinor has been operating the Peregrino field since 2009 and around 300M barrels of oil have been produced by the asset over 15 years. Peregrino is a heavy oil field and consists of a floating production storage and offloading platform, supported by three fixed platforms. The field is in the Campos Basin, east of Rio de Janeiro. In Q1 2025, Equinor´s share of production from Peregrino was around 55,000 barrels per day.

“With this transaction, we realise value from a long-standing asset in our Brazil portfolio. Brazil will continue to be a core country for Equinor, as we focus on starting up the Bacalhau field and continue progressing the Raia gas project. With these two operated projects and our partnership in Roncador, our equity production in Brazil will be close to 200,000 barrels per day by 2030,” Equinor executive vice president for exploration and production international Philippe Mathieu said.

“This deal is part of Equinor’s ongoing effort to high-grade its international portfolio through asset divestments and acquisitions. We continue to see growth potential and opportunities to extend the longevity of our international oil and gas portfolio, also in Brazil.”